Press Release | 2014 September 16

A University of Utah astronomer and his colleagues discovered that an ultracompact dwarf galaxy harbors a supermassive black hole – the smallest galaxy known to contain such a massive light-sucking object. The finding suggests huge black holes may be more common than previously believed.

Web Feature | 2014 September 8

The first data from the Gemini Frontier Fields are now available for astronomers. This dataset features wide-field adaptive optics images of a strong lensing galaxy cluster obtained with the GeMS adaptive optics system and GSAOI on the Gemini South telescope.

Web Feature | 2014 September 2

A team of astronomers, led by Dr. Elliott Horch, Southern Connecticut State University, have shown that stars with exoplanets are just as likely to have a binary companion: that is, 40% to 50% of the host stars are actually binary stars.

Web Feature | 2014 June 16

A team of researchers have recently identified one of the best gravitational wave sources currently known using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Gemini North telescope and the Blue Channel spectrograph on the 6.5-meter MMT Telescope.

Web Feature | 2014 June 10

Observations using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on Gemini South reveal that galaxy-wide high-velocity outflows are extremely common among galaxies that host luminous quasars. These outflows may represent a crucial stage in a galaxy’s evolution when the supermassive black hole at its center begins injecting vast amounts of mass and energy into the galaxy.

Web Feature | 2014 May 15

An international team of astronomers has revealed a complicated outflow structure in the binary UY Aur (Aurigae). The team observed the binary using the Gemini North's NIFS (Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrometer) with the Altair adaptive optics system and found that the primary star has a wide, open outflow, while the secondary star has a well-collimated jet.

Web Feature | 2014 May 15

A Lawrence Livermore team and international collaborators have tracked the orbit of a planet at least four times the size of Jupiter by using the Gemini Planet Imager which snapped an amazingly clear and bright image of the gas giant Beta Pictoris b after an exposure of just one minute.

Press Release | 2014 May 12

An international team led by Université de Montréal researchers has discovered and photographed a new planet 155 light years from our solar system by combining observations from the Gemini Observatory, the Observatoire Mont-Mégantic (OMM), the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) and the W.M. Keck Observatory.

Press Release | 2014 April 2

Using the Altair adaptive optics (AO) system with the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawai’i to compensate for distortions to starlight caused by the Earth’s atmosphere, two NOAO astronomers were able to observe the shell of escaping material around Sakurai’s Object (V4334 Sgr).

Web Feature | 2014 February 20

New research by Stephen Kane (San Francisco State University) and collaborators shows that planets on highly eccentric (very non-circular) orbits are not necessarily explained by the presence of an additional star still present in the system. The Differential Speckle Survey Instrument (DSSI) on the Gemini North telescope was used in this research.

Web Feature | 2014 February 18

Press Release | 2014 January 6

Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) was designed, built, and optimized for imaging faint planets next to bright stars and probing their atmospheres. It will also be a powerful tool for studying dusty, planet-forming disks around young stars. It is the most advanced such instrument to be deployed on the 8-meter Gemini South telescope in Chile.

Press Release | 2013 November 26

Gemini observations support an unexpected discovery in the galaxy Messier 101. A relatively small black hole (20-30 times the mass of our Sun) can sustain a hugely voracious appetite while consuming material in an efficient and tidy manner – something previously thought impossible.

Web Feature | 2013 November 14

Gemini's powerful new instrument for studying planets beyond the Solar System, the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), has successfully received its first starlight for engineering and testing on the night of November 11-12.